Your Worst Nightmare Part 1
by meagameaghan
Summary: When the rangers become trapped in a world where their worst nightmares come to life, they need to figure out a way to conquer their deepest darkest dreams before they perish. But when nightmares can be so seductive it looks like that the samurais won't be up to the challenge of defeating what they fear most. Jemily vs Memily. Also Kia. NOTE: FIX GRAMMAR.
1. Chapter 1

The Gap Sensor blared in the dead of night. The rangers awoke with a start, unused to having to deal with Nighlock attacks this late.

Emily rubbed her eyes groggily and yawned as she yanked herself out of bed. "Another Nighlock attack?"

Mike groaned and rolled out of bed still half asleep. "Don't those guys ever take a break?"

Kevin jumped out of bed, looking bright and chipper and smacked Mike on the upside of the head. "Evil doesn't take naps. Now come on!" Without another word he grabbed Mike by the ear and dragged him out of the room.

Emily tried to shake Mia awake gently, in order to avoid angering the older ranger. She could be moody when she was tired. "Come on Mia. You've had more than enough beauty sleep. We have to go."

Jayden charged into the infirmary where the four other rangers had passed out after a hard day of work the day before. Four beds… or cots rather were lined up neatly in a little row. Jayden was in a panic, his hair still adorably rumpled. Emily gave a terrified squeak and then paused for a moment to appreciate how cute he was when he wasn't trying to look stern and professional.

"I'm… trying… Mia needs to wake up." Emily managed to stutter out as an explanation. Jayden nodded, still understanding what she meant.

"I'll wake her. You just get going."

"But… Antonio?"

Jayden grinned. "I already called him. He didn't sound too happy, but he's on the way."

Emily smiled. She could imagine the other ranger's dismay at being woken up to the sound of Jayden's voice ordering him to go fight Nighlock monsters. It wasn't as if he had a right to complain. Antonio had chosen this lifestyle for himself. The other rangers were forced to take on this responsibility for their family. Some more unexpectedly than others…

Jayden was looking at Emily feeling confused that Emily wasn't leaving yet. With a jolt Emily realized that she should probably be running after the others. Without another word, Emily blushed a deep shade of red and darted out of the door.

Jayden caught up to the others easily. With the exception of Kevin, no one was really feeling all that motivated to get to wherever they needed to be quickly. After all, it was the middle of the night. How much damage could a Nighlock cause while everyone was asleep? Dragging a cranky Mia behind him, Jayden caught a glimpse of Emily's beautiful blonde hair strewing out behind her as she ran. Somehow that motivated him to run a little bit faster.

Not long after Jayden and Mia arrived, the rangers saw a flash of gold nearly collide with the group. The new ranger had already morphed, most likely because he didn't want the other rangers (namely Emily) to see how disheveled he looked. His teammates quickly followed suit as they approached a quiet little town that had set of the alarm.

The rangers waited as they entered the town to listen for the sound of screaming, or people running away in fear, but they saw nothing. They all exchanged a look of confusion. Where was the Nighlock? And how would they see it? Everything was completely black. Black. Black. It was as if night had become ravenous and devoured the sun.

There was a flash of light, and the area where the rangers were standing in became illuminated. But they could still not see anything but each other. They could not see the Nighlock.

Out of nowhere it appeared, slashing and kicking at them, seeming to come from all sides. The rangers tried to fight back, but they could only see the outline of its shape in the blackness. The monster seemed to be everywhere and nowhere, coming at them from all different angles. The samurais were powerless. They could not fight back.

Suddenly a voice that sounded distinctively female broke through the silence of the attacks. "You can't see me."

In frustration Jayden slashed at where he heard the voice coming from. His blade only met air.

"But I can see you." The voice called from the other side of him. Jayden slashed again looking wildly about. The other rangers had formed a circle around him, keeping their blades steady. If the creature appeared by them, they would be ready, no matter where it appeared. They hoped.

"Who are you? Where are you?" Jayden growled into the thin air. The girlish voice giggled and then began to speak in a singsong voice.

"I am everywhere. I am nowhere. You can't defeat me. You would all be dead if I wanted you to be. But I wouldn't like that. I would like to have a little fun with you." The voice paused waiting for Jayden's response. He and the other rangers remained unfazed.

"Who are you?" He repeated. There was a long pause.

"I am the Night Mare. I make your worst dreams come to life." There was a whoosh by Mia. She swung at the empty air trying to apprehend her attacker. She was unsuccessful. "Like you my dear. You try so heard to please everyone. But who would find you pleasing? You are too cold. Too detached. Why… you're no better than –

"SHUT UP!" Mia shouted as she swung at the thin air. She slashed again and again and then stopped, panting deeply, exhausted from all of her efforts. Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped to the ground.

"MIA!" Kevin shouted. He tried to race over to her and long thin arms extended from the darkness and embraced him. The other rangers raced to him slashing at the arms that held him but their weapons left no marks. The voice whispered in his ear.

"And you." It laughed. "You want to be an Olympic swimmer? Please. Why haven't you told your coach of your recurring dream? The one where you drown slowly and painfully."

Kevin stopped struggling and the fight went out of him. His eyes widened in shock. "You know about that?"

"I know about everything." The voice responded. And then Kevin collapsed.

Antonio gasped. "Kevin mi amigo! Estas bien?" Antonio hardly had taken three steps when he froze.

"You don't even deserve to be here, do you?" The monster asked him. For once, Antonio had nothing to say. "You know you're not good enough to be here? You'll mess something up. The team will collapse. And it will be all your fault.

"Antonio she's lying." Emily piped up. But it was too late. Antonio was already sinking to the floor eyes clenched shut in pain.

And then the monster was on Emily but she was ready for it. Without a word she slashed at the bolt of darkness that flew towards her. There was the shuddering impact, as blade made contact with skin but the monster did not cry out in pain. It didn't seem to feel a thing. The beast chuckled.

"Pathetic. The little baby samurai. I can see why they call you that. You're too nice Emily. Someone will take advantage of you. Serena would be very disappointed." Underneath her helmet, ears started welling up in Emily's eyes. She was grateful that the others couldn't see. Sensing weakness the monster struck again. "What's the matter? Did I hurt your feelings? Whatever happened to sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me?" The Nighlock giggled. "She's dying you know. Serena. She's slipping off to a world where even you can't save her. The afterlife. Do you want to know how it feels to die Emily?" As a response, Emily slumped and slid to the ground.

"EMILY! NO!" Mike called out in a voice thick with anguish. He tried to race towards her but when he was just a few feet away he fell to his knees.

"You wouldn't want anything happening to this one, would you Michael? She doesn't love you, you know. Maybe if you were stronger. Maybe if you were smarter. Maybe if you were more like your leader." Jayden could imagine the beast smirking at him. "Wouldn't you like that Mikey? To have so much power. To be as strong as Jayden."

Mike opened his mouth to reply but his eyes rolled back in his head and he too collapsed. Now only Jayden was left. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he sensed an unfamiliar presence right behind him. Now was his chance. He turned around to finish the Nighlock once and for all and found himself staring into eyes so black that they seemed to have no bottom. And Jayden felt himself falling… falling… falling…

Just as he hit the ground, Jayden heard five little words that caused every nightmare he ever had to pale in comparison.

"I know your secret Jayden."


	2. Welcome to Hell

Jayden awoke to the frightened faces of the other rangers gazing at him from different areas of the room that they were trapped in. Kevin was pacing nervously in one corner of the room. Mike was staring off into the distance in the other, evidently thinking about something else. Antonio was still sleeping on the floor nearby by to him, right next to Emily. Mia, who was next to Kevin, stood looking ay Jayden biting her lip and Emily looked as if she was about to cry when she saw Jayden open his eyes.

Jayden looked around trying to take everything in. They were all in a dimly lit room with six passageways extending in every which direction. There was no foreseeable end to the passageways. They seemed to stretch on forever.

"Where are we?" Jayden asked.

Mike looked at him for a moment before fleeting his gaze away. "Beats me," he responded. "We've been trying to figure out how to get out of here for the past half an hour."

Jayden's eyes went wide. Had they really been there that long? Jayden felt his head trying to calm his pounding headache and groaned. Instinctively, Emily moved closer trying to see what was wrong.

"Don't," he warned her. Emily stopped in her tracks, still looking concerned. He felt terrible. Why was he so harsh with her? After all, she was just trying to help.

"Don't," he repeated more quietly. "See if you can wake up Antonio instead." Emily nodded curtly and then went off to go wake up Antonio.

Unsteadily, Jayden got to his feet. Standing, he could get a good look at the place. Yup. They were most definitely trapped.

"Well… there are six passages and six of us. I think that we should each take one and then report back later," Jayden suggested.

Mia gasped. "You mean split up?"

"I don't think that's a good idea Jayden," Kevin warned.

"Yeah." Emily piped up. "We should stick together."

"Besides, have you ever seen those horror movies where the group splits up? They always wind up getting picked off one by one." Mike added.

"Stay together…" Antonio muttered groggily as Emily gently shook him awake.

Jayden sighed. If that was what the team wanted. Fine. Only once the room had stopped spinning did Jayden realize how spread out everyone was.

"Fine," he said. "But let's at least move closer together so we can talk without having to shout. I have a pounding headache."

Emily nodded eagerly and bounded forward to meet him. As she was about halfway there a long tendril of darkness reached out from one of the passageways and yanked her back suddenly.

"EMILY!" Mike screamed. Jayden was prepared. Fast as lightning he snapped the tendril in two with his spin sword and Emily went flying into his arms. As she was seconds away from hitting the ground, Jayden caught her with his free arm and yanked her close to him. They were inches away from each other's face.

"Thanks." Emily whispered pulling away but never taking her eyes off of Jayden. Jayden nodded in response and turned back to where the tendril of darkness had come from.

"Keep your guard up," he warned his team. "It seems like they sense motion so no sudden moves."

Evidently Mia was still too tired to get the message. Or maybe it was just her maternal instincts kicking in.

"Emily! Are you alright?" she called racing towards her.

"Mia! Kevin yelled trying to stop her. "Listen to Jay –"

Immediately two tendrils of darkness snaked out and entwined themselves around the two rangers, yanking them off into opposite passageways before they even had time to scream.

"_Ah Dios Mio." _Antonio yelled as he leapt a foot in the air in shock. He ran toward the center of the room craning his neck to see if he could catch a glimpse of the other rangers down the passageways. He held up his lightzord, which illuminated the room so he could get a better look. "Kevin? Mia? Where are -? 

Suddenly the light flicked off as a whoosh of air was heard and Antonio was yanked down another passageway screaming and cursing in Spanish until the noise died away.

Emily tried to race forward in panic and Jayden put a hand on her shoulder steadying her. Mike was shaking on the other half of the room.

"This is crazy. Absolutely crazy," he muttered. He looked a little shaken up. Emily wondered what his problem was. He had been in danger before. Why was he so shaken up? Was it something that the Nighlock had said to him?

Watching her step carefully, Emily inched her way towards him slowly so that the weird darkness thingies wouldn't detect her movement. Jayden looked on disapprovingly. Emily sighed. They both knew this was a bad idea but Emily had to calm Mike down. Mike was known for being unpredictable. If he got scared and made any sudden moves… Emily shuddered. She didn't want to even think about what might happen to him. What happened to the others.

Finally she exhaled as she finally reached Mike. He didn't even look up to acknowledge her. He just kept muttering to himself.

"Hey." She crooned softly holding Mike's face in place so he would stop shaking. She leaned in really close to him. "Everything's going to be okay. We'll get through this."

He looked up at her with trusting eyes and nodded. "Now come on," she continued. "Let's get to Jayden so we can figure out what to do. I'll steady you."

Carefully they inched their way over to Jayden. They both held their breath the entire time.

"How are we going to get out of here if we can't move?" Mike hissed at him.

"I don't know." Jayden admitted once the rangers had reached him.

The rangers paused for a moment to think.

"Well… what if we let it take us?" Emily asked after a while. The boys looked at Emily as if she had just suggested that they have a tea party with Master Xandred and talk about their feelings. "No I'm serious," she said. "Maybe they'll take us to the others."

Jayden sighed. "Emily… I don't think that's a very good idea."

Emily glared up at him defiantly. "Well I don't know about you, but I don't just want to sit here and think about ways that we can save the others. We should be taking action! You agree don't you Mike?" she asked turning to the green ranger.

"Em… We can't risk it," he explained. "I – I don't want you getting hurt." Emily blinked at him in shock. Why were they so afraid? Mike was always the reckless one. Why had he suddenly become so timid?

Emily narrowed her eyes at them both and shook her head in disappointment. The boys both released their hold on her, thinking that she had given up. The moment they let go, Emily darted off into the center of the clearing jumping and spinning and moving her arms around like a maniac. It was as if she was performing some horrifying yet beautiful dance. The boys gazed on in horror.

After a few minutes, Emily stopped, breathing heavily. She looked around in confusion. Nothing happened. Sighing in defeat, she began to make her way over to the boys. Out of nowhere another tendril of darkness came and entwined itself around her chest. Emily's eyes grew wide in fear. But she bit her lip and told herself that she needed to be brave.

Both boys raced to her frantically spin swords drawn. They were unaware that dark tendrils of their own were extending to grab them.

Emily smiled suddenly feeling at peace. Her two boys. Her two brave rangers. Even as the smoke wrapped around their ankles she knew that they would find a way to break free. They would save her. They would save all of them.

As their arms were reaching for her, suddenly all three of them were yanked apart and pulled in different directions dragged kicking and screaming along the floors of the opposing corridors.

And into the darkness.


	3. I now pronounce you monster and wife

**MIA** was covered in pink ribbons and bows tried all around her hair. Her long white dress with its flowing train trailed behind her like a long and graceful tail. Expensive jewels were draped all about her neck. Mia felt like a princess. She _was _a princess. And it was the happiest moment of her life.

Mia beamed as she walked down the aisle. She appeared to be glowing, ecstatic that her fairytale dream was finally coming true. She was finally getting married to the man of her dreams. She was too caught up in her happiness to think about anything else. She didn't care that in the sea of people that was supposed to be filled with her friends and family, there was not a single familiar face. She didn't notice how the aisle seemed to be miles long, as if desperately thrusting the opportunity at her to turn back and change her mind.

She didn't even realize that she didn't even know whom she was getting married to. (Though she would never admit it out loud, she certainly hoped it was a certain blue ranger.) Everything was just too perfect to worry about anything.

As she finally approached the altar her heart felt as light as a feather. The man in the suit was not facing her, but she was certain that when she turned him around she would be gazing into the face of her true love. And she would be completely happy with, whomever that face was.

But as she turned to embrace her future soul mate, her heart froze in her chest. Suddenly, she felt like ice. Mia was gazing into a mirror.

Mia gasped in fright at the girl staring back at her. She was beautiful, but in a dark and terrifying way. She skin was as pale as creamy white milk yet her hair was as dark as a raven's wing. But most frightening of all were her eyes, which glowed as red as the Sanzu River.

Instead of mirroring her action, the girl smirked back at her evilly, showing a row of pearly white teeth that were as sharp as daggers.

"I – I don't understand," Mia whispered to her refection. "It's my wedding day. I'm supposed to be happy. I'm supposed to be with someone that I love and someone who loves me. There must be some mistake."

The phantom giggled. "Sweetie. There's no mistake. We are perfect for each other. Who knows you and understands you better than yourself? And who else would love you? No man in their right mind would if they got to know the real you."

"That's not true!" Mia choked out. Suddenly she felt a great weight pressing down heavily on her chest. Her vision started to go slightly pinkish around the edges.

"Of course it is! You're bossy, you're cold, you're narcissistic and another thing… YOU CAN'T COOK!"

Mia staggered back with each insult. "The rangers..." she gasped out through clenched teeth. "They know me. They love me."

Mia's reflection almost smiled sympathetically. Mia shuddered. It looked wrong for a demon to wear that expression. To wear her expression. The one that she gave to her friends when they pitied her. Mia suddenly felt a surge of fear. Did it look that phony when she did it? "Oh sweetie. That's because you don't show the real you. You try to hard to be all sweet and maternal like your mother. But you'll slip. You'll show your true colors, like the way you do in battle. Soon they'll realize what you already have. You're a lot more similar to a Nighlock that you think."

That last statement made Mia's blood run cold just as she was about to smash the mirror. She was so close and suddenly, she couldn't. Her own words kept haunting her. "What do you mean?" Mia managed to stutter out.

The face in the mirror began to deform gradually. "Well, take Dayu for example. She tried so hard to please her husband, buying him that sword. Saving his life. But she was selfish. She really did it for herself. Because she didn't want him to leave her. She feared being alone. Just like you.

"No…" Mia gasped. But the Nighlock wasn't finished yet.

"She wouldn't let him die and he's cursed for all eternity because of it." The reflection spat bitterly. "And you're no better. Admit it. That's the real reason that you couldn't kill Dayu. It wasn't sympathy that made you hesitate. It was kinship."

Mia couldn't answer. She didn't want to make the situation worse by lying.

The reflection smirked knowing she was right. But the face in the mirror no longer resembled Mia. It was a Nighlock. A eerily creepy yet in some strange way beautiful Nighlock. It was Dayu, Mia realized with a start.

"Face it Mia. We are one and the same."

"No! I am nothing like you!" Mia countered. But her voice faltered a bit. How could she be sure? The mirror hadn't lied to her yet. Every word of what it had said to her thus far was true. It was hurtful, yet true.

"Stop trying to be so…perfect!" The creature that was Mia yet not Mia urged. "Are you afraid? Are you afraid that they will recoil from you in fear if you make one little mistake? Or are you afraid of yourself? Are you afraid of what will happen if you start to let yourself slip?

"I…" Mia began.

The creature continued. "Where does the line blur Mia?"

"Huh?" Mia asked.

"What one mistake can you make that will make them desert you? Where is the line between perfection and chaos? You are that line Mia. Ever since you met me, though you have been fighting to stay perfect on the outside, your mind has been complete and utter chaos."

"No! That's not true!" Mia shouted. But it was. And the Nighlock knew it.

She smiled. "You have often feared loneliness. You knew that you were not raised like other little girls. And because of that, you would never have a normal life. You will forever be alone."

"No…" Mia whispered. It seemed that it was all that she could say. She hung her head in shame and tried to hide her tears.

"But it doesn't need to be that way." The reflection whispered back to her. Mia immediately lifted her head. "Yesssssss." It hissed. "You don't have to be a samurai you know. You can be a normal girl, with a normal life."

"I can be normal…" Mia repeated back in a haze.

The reflection nodded eagerly, although Mia could not tell if it was she or the creature doing the nodding. They were one and the same now. Unified by one idea, one impossible dream…

Suddenly the mirror started to swirl and all of these images began to appear before her. Mia was sitting, smiling and happy with two little children a boy and a girl. She sat reading a book to her children, smiling happy down at the little angels that fell asleep at her feet.

Mia was sitting in a classroom, filled with smiling children who adored her. They sat down to listening to her, mesmerized as she began to sing to them sweetly. And lastly, she saw herself walk down the mirror as it began to transform into a wedding aisle out of a fairytale, or out of a dream.

With glazed eyes and a painted smile, she danced along the glass surface. And as her love turned around her heart sang. It was real boy. A boy who loved her and all of her qualities, her benefits, her flaws…

Suddenly the man grabbed her and began to shake her. Mia was both stunned and afraid. Her true love was not supposed to behave like this, was he? The demon children in her fantasies sprouted malicious smiles and Mia screamed helplessly. For she was not a ranger, she was a normal girl. What could she do?

And still man kept shaking her. The more that she thought about it he looked awfully familiar. "WAKE UP MIA!" he shouted. "We're still in the dream world! This is all a dream! It's me, Kevin! Please Mia you need to wake up! You need to wake –"

And suddenly the ground parted underneath them as Mia felt an arrow pierce her heart and shatter the glass. And Mia felt herself fall down into the nightmare.


	4. Just Go With the Flow

**KEVIN** was completely engulfed in the blue waves that rolled over his body as it made contact with the water. For five horrible moments he couldn't think about anything but the pain. But then his mind reasoned that he had to swim away to safety if he was going to survive this crazy messed up dream world. So Kevin set off swimming.

Kevin didn't mind swimming for long distances. In fact, he liked it. Before Kevin had joined the Samurai Rangers, he had been a professional swimmer. He even hoped that he could someday join the Olympics.

But that was all a thing of the past. He could never be in the Olympics now. And he never would. Just like Mia, in order to be a Samurai, he had to sacrifice all of his dreams of a normal life.

At the thought of Mia, Kevin's blood ran cold. He had seen her when he was falling. He was sure of it. She was dancing along some glass table thingy about to fall into a swirling vortex. The only problem was that she didn't seem to know that it was a swirling vortex. She kept smiling like an idiot and trying to grab for it.

It was funny. Kevin had never seen her smile before. He stopped for a moment in his swimming to try and call back his memories of it. She looked…nice. She looked really pretty as a matter of fact. Mia was almost as uptight as Kevin was, so he never really got to see her smile very often. He thought that it was nice change.

Kevin remembered that he had to get swimming if he was going to make it to safety. He had to save the others and he couldn't afford to simply go with the flow and see where the tide took him. In this world, all worlds as a matter of fact, that could only lead to trouble.

Kevin continued swimming but gradually, his mind wouldn't focus the way he wanted to. He was losing his concentration as his thoughts kept drifting back to Mia.

He had tried to wake her up. Unsuccessfully he was certain, but at least he had tried. For a few moments, he landed on that weird glass portal with her before gravity sucked them both downwards.

He had tried to reason with her, but for once reason failed. After all, this was the dream world; a place where the impossible became real.

He kept shaking her telling her wake up and that this was all a dream. She shook her head about wildly, eyes wide with her long dark hair whipping back and forth in the wind. She kept muttering something about how the love of her life wasn't supposed to treat her like this.

Her eyes got all watery and her bottom lip quivered a bit. Kevin was afraid she was going to cry. She looked so pretty in that dress (maybe a wedding dress?) that part of Kevin just wanted to screw the Nighlock and start comforting her the way that a real husband should. The irrational part of him. The part that just wanted to go with the flow. The part of Kevin that would never win out.

Just as Kevin thought that he was maybe getting through to her, the ground ripped open and swallowed them both up. He and Mia were rapidly falling away from each other. Kevin tried to reach out and grab onto her but she slipped through his fingertips. Well, more accurately, she fought him off like mad kicking and screaming and biting with force that he wasn't aware that she was capable of.

Apparently she was still somewhat submerged in the dream. And in the dream Kevin was some sort of wife-beating monster. Fantastic.

So Kevin did the only thing that he could do. He let go. He didn't want to and literally seconds later, as he saw the icy cold water approaching him, he mentally kicked himself for it. But still, he had to. He had no other choice.

Even as he was swimming, Kevin worried about Mia. About a million questions raced through his mind about her at a mile per minute. Was she experiencing a nightmare of her own right now? Was she scared? Where was she?

_She's married to a monster. And her perfect little world has been shattered before her very eyes._

Suddenly Kevin felt a surge of rage that was unusual for him. He had always been very level headed and calm. Especially when it came to fighting Nighlock monsters.

So why did the idea of Mia feeling helpless and undergoing pain at the hand of a monster make him want to rip whoever was responsible for this to shreds.

"Who's doing this to her?" He asked aloud as he stopped to look around for the voice that spoke to him. "Show yourself Nighlock!"

The voice that responded seemed as though it emerged from the waves. It came from the sea itself.

_You are._ The voice answered him.

Kevin was not expecting that. The shock of that answer was so great, that, if he had not been a champion swimmer, he might have drowned right there and then. He felt himself go underneath the waves, momentarily too stunned to fight the pull. Then he forced himself above the surface once more, gasping and spitting out salt water. "I am?" Kevin asked again in a weak voice.

_Yessssssssss._

Kevin shuddered. It was as if the monster was the sea. Even this response sounded as the waves did when they broke and crashed on the shore, washing away everything in sight.

_You shattered her perfect world. She could have been trapped in a nice dream for all of eternity. You had to come along and ruin it. _

"You wouldn't have let her be happy anyway!" Kevin shouted back accusingly. "You're lying!" But the problem was, Kevin wasn't sure. What if it was all his fault?

The sea began to shake as if it were becoming furious with him. Then without warning it quieted. For a moment, everything was calm. Briefly, Kevin thought that the monster had actually left him alone.

_Honestly Kevin. _It chided him. _Why can't you learn to just… go with the flow?_

Without warning, the waves became fierce and tumultuous. They thrashed him about, crashing down on him in rapid succession.

Kevin couldn't breathe. He couldn't see or feel or hear anything but the roar of the waves like an angry monster.

Kevin started to panic. He fought the waves viciously, kicking and trying to thrust himself above to surface. His lungs started to burn from lack of oxygen. He still hadn't let go of his spin sword or his Samuraizer. They were weighing him down. They were too heavy. Kevin's chest started to burn, though he couldn't tell if it was from water or fear. Letting go of his Samurai weapons was a fate worse than drowning.

But Kevin was so weak. And he was so horribly scared now. He thought that he would never know how it felt to breathe in air again. At this point in the dream, he would usually wake up kicking and screaming in his bed. In his reoccurring nightmare, he had never gotten beyond this point. But it was clear that Kevin was not waking up anytime soon.

He tried grabbing his sword and in panic he thrust it at the dark shadows in the water. He slashed at imaginary creatures and monsters that were not there. Suddenly, Kevin felt very young. The way that he had when his father first threw him in the ocean and told him to swim. Kevin was a scared little boy, not a big and intimidating Samurai then.

Suddenly the ocean was no longer a place of comfort. It was a dark and scary place where danger lurked at every corner. Kevin whimpered in fright. He didn't feel safe anymore. With his few remaining breaths, Kevin tried to draw a symbol that would get him out of here. After all, his symbol was water.

But Kevin, calm levelheaded Kevin, was shaking like a leaf. He could not keep his hand steady long enough to make the symbol.

Kevin started to see dark spots flash in his vision. He was losing focus. He knew that he would inevitably lose consciousness soon.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kevin saw a golden thread dangling in the water a few feet away from him, shining like a beacon of hope. Desperately he lunged for it and tugged for a fraction of a second. Without warning, the string snapped and Kevin tumbling out deeper into the ocean. The pain that he felt was unbearable. Kevin's whole body seemed to be on fire.

Kevin felt his muscles start to lose strength. His Samuraizer and spin sword slipped from his grip and sank deeper into the ocean. And throughout all this, Kevin watched disinterestedly as he lost control of his limbs.

Soon, he too started to sink into the blackness, the Nighlock's last words echoing over and over in his mind.

_Honestly Kevin. Why can't you just go with the flow?_


End file.
